View Arizona's
drought status

The winter storms in January led to some further improvement in conditions in central and southern Arizona. The northern part of the state, however, has only received near average precipitation, much of it falling as rain rather than snow. At best, many areas in the northern part of the state had no change in drought status, but northern Coconino County has degraded from D1 (moderate drought), to D2 (severe drought) since the beginning of the month. In contrast, southwestern Arizona has improved to areas of no drought across Yuma, La Paz, western Pima and southwest Maricopa counties.

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Long-term Drought Status Update: October - December 2014

The early winter precipitation in December and January had its greatest impact on southern Arizona, with most of the southern watersheds improving by one category. This followed heavy precipitation in these watersheds during the monsoon, and the combination has led to their improvement in this seasonal update.

In northern Arizona, the fall and early winter precipitation in most cases is near average, however much of the precipitation has been falling as rain rather than snow below 9000 feet. As a result, the outlook for spring run-off and water supply is not showing much improvement.